bad equation

+

3/4 a tube of lip gloss

+

a quiet corner
with her back
discreetly turned

=

h: um, mom?
you’d better come and
see this

four shampoo+rinse cycles later,
i still can’t get a comb
thru that (shiny/glittery)
curly head of hers.

. njc .

a splendid 9th birthday, certainly.

and we loved seeing this on morv’s site.

trying to keep nathan’s presents
from being a general free-for-all
(he was such a good sport;
‘go ahead and open that one, caroline!’)

a boomerang from australia,
a shark’s tooth necklace from the philippines;
he’s in heaven.

cory took
nathan, henry & daniel j
to the bronx zoo
to celebrate

‘how can a young man keep his way pure?
by living according to your word.

i seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.

i have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

praise be to you, O Lord;
teach me your decrees.’

psalm 119:9-12

the ‘jokelopedia’ from uncle scott + aunt katie
was a huge (if punny) hit


with justin, anita + greg;
the perfect ending to a happy day
was that charlie & vicky
(justin’s mom and dad)
were in town and
everyone came over after
church for jokes & tea.

que pasa?

nathan said that
’scientists’ are considering
creating a new month
between
december & january.

has anyone else heard about this?

he backed it up with
this tidbit:
they’re supposedly taking
the 30th & 31st from all of
the other months, so the
new month is only two weeks long.

say wha?

babyville

it must be baby time…

. alexander wesley caramico .

congrats, courtenay & anthony
and big brother, asa.

trust me, the birth announcement
photo is the cutest. it’s hanging on
our fridge.

and did i mention what
amanda sent?

the hullinger girls sent out
tiny jelly beans in little packages
to spread the word of the
newest addition to their family.

“the sweetest thing just
happened to me;
my mom had a girl
and now we have three!”

you guys are too creative.

and on a slightly
different note,
‘baby mama’
opening night
is april 25th,
who’s in?

from texas with love

. magdalena ikoi-ming masur .

ken & melinda had a girl!

i’m sure she’ll make her
first transatlantic flight
at some point &
we can’t wait to meet her.

“Magdalena is named after
Anna Magdalena Bach,
the loving wife of
Johann Sebastian Bach.
Ikoi is Japanese for God’s rest,
stillness and refreshment in Psalm 23:2
and Ming means brightness,
light and tomorrow in Chinese.”

garment district

caroline joined me for an outing
to the garment district
(take the train to times sq &
a 4 minute walk south)

my madness method
for making
the girls little
summer shift dresses:

i go look at the terrific
liberty prints at
b+j fabrics
and then
race over to 39th st
(starting at chic fabrics &
working our way down
depending on what we
find or don’t find)

trying to find something
similar
for a fraction
of the price.

we work our way down
the street and end up
at daytona trimmings
(think: ribbons + trim galore)
where caroline is
dazzled by the rhinestones
and then looks for the two
tabby cats that roam
the floor.

today we chose materials for
2 little dresses,
1 kitchen tablecloth,
and a set of long
curtains for our hallway closet
so we can take out those
pesky folding doors.

hooray

bday greetings from the bush

look at those wedding rings!
i’m loving this picture for
so many reasons,
the first of which is that it
makes them seem closer
than halfway around the world.

ps – they sent this photo
on a card in the mail
via moonpig;
v. cool.

the skinny on friday mornings

you know what friday means
@
255w70

. co-op preschool .

#1 most important thing:
my carrieangel
comes bearing coffee +
willing hands
and we trick this place out
(aka. clean up after breakfast +
the morning mess +
get it ready for a happyinvasion +
hopefully find a few moments
for some prayer together)

this morning, caroline was
tickled to point out that
she + carrie were dressed alike,
sort of.

preschool schedule is…

big kids (upstairs in diane’s apt):
9:30-10:20am music with ms. suzie
10:20-10:30 potty break + snack
10:30-11:30 curriculum time

little kids (in our apt):
9:30-9:45am play
9:45-10:00 music
10:00-10:30 snacks + coloring/activity
10:30-11:30 play + storytime

the big kids class is all together for music
and then breaks into two classes for curriculum
(class #1 = 4 boys,
class #2 = 3 girls)
the little kids class = 3 girls + 2 boys.

curriculum time looks something like:
-attendance chart
-weather + seasons
-calendar
-introduce the letter for the day (today was S)
-handwriting coloring sheets at the table
-craft
-game/activity
-story time

staffing looks something like this:
big kids music time = ms. suzie + one mom
big kids curriculum time = one mom with boys + one mom with girls
little kids = two moms

so, four moms are ‘on’ each week
and
four moms are ‘off’ each week
(two whole hours off;
leisurely coffee + fairway run, baby)

and ami is an amazing calendar/schedule girl;
she keeps us humming supersmoothly.

a few samples of music class today
(we were missing half of our usual class +
had the pleasure of ethan and houston join us
since they are on spring break):

ps – a serious shout out to
the other 7 moms;
these ladies are the
hardest working women
in showbusiness.
a.maz.ing. they are.

birthday boys

let’sgetthispartystartedright
let’sgetthispartystartedquickly

nathan’s bday is sunday,
let the games begin*

so we had a double-par-tay this afternoon:
cutiepie logan is one today +
nathan is almost nine =
superfunfridayafterschoolbirthdaycheers

thanks, rach.
we loved it.

since she was carrying the big ‘happybday’ balloon,
well-wishers said ‘happy birthday!’ to her repeatedly.

at first she felt uncertain,
’should i tell them it’s not my birthday?’
but then just soaked it in.

i really don’t think her smile gets
any bigger than that.

betsy dragging logan’s gift on the ground.
nice.

as soon as we walked in the door,
henry nailed it:
‘magnolia cupcakes, baaaabbbbbyyy!’

*we stole the idea from someone
(was it you? take credit for your brilliance)
of doing bday parties every other year.

so since nathan had a party last year,
this year is ‘family birthday’

which means we celebrate you in
every way but having a ‘formal’ party.

celebrities: they’rejustlikeus

minus all the money, fame + power.

but really.

i passed kristen wiig
on the street today;
she funny.

tgif

no vintage cameras, no old cell phones, no macs?

do you need a movie?
(i think cory needs a movie)

morven’s house is famous;
and we had the privilege of staying
there when we visited. gor.ge.ous.
and the sound of the river
rushing past, esp as you’re
lying in bed = in.tox.i.cat.ing.

loving these posters.

(bad theology, cool poster)

1930’s british advertisement

morning whatnot

henry set up
‘bible camp’
on the kitchen floor
and promptly enrolled
two students + six bibles

a morning starbucks outing

we ran home just as the
big raindrops started
to fall

papergirl

nothing funny going on here,
nosiree.

well, maybe i should start here:

betsy cannot pass by these
newspaper boxes without
painstakingly opening
every
single
one.

and then, faster than jono can say
‘dodgytastinglondonmeatpie,’
she’s hopped in.

so i waited as long as i could
(the other kids were racing
on by this point)
and she was So Mad
that i was making her
get out…

so she stomped home
to register her displeasure,

stopping two or three times
to verbally reiterate her complaint.

ps – note to henry:
it’s shenanigans like this
that make the girls
vote you out
during bath time.
think gentle.
think not-in-the-face.

come on, now, love.

‘community is hard work’

i’ve mentioned how much
i love fellowship group, right?

i do.

tonight’s crew:
chris, kim, joe,
priska, greg, amy,
bryan, laryssa, julia,
emily, cory, sarah,
nick, and even henry.

(he sat between sarah &
priska and thumbed thru
his entire ‘focus on the family’ bible
which has comic strips
every 20-or-so pages.
occasionally making,
‘hmmmm‘ or ‘oh‘ noises)

and that ‘community is hard work’
was always one of my favorite
lines in the fellowship group
leader’s handbook.

they tell it like it is, man;
it’s hard work &
it’s worth it.

ps – hopefully tonight’s
homemade quiches,
green salad, fresh cantaloupe,
fudgy brownies + steaming frenchpressed coffee
took the edge off the ‘hard work’
a bit.

a love song to lip gloss

every profession has its
good technology,
good design,
things that are well-built and
help get the job done
Right.

for me,
it usually comes down to
the right size bible

(travel size for on-the-go,
study size for at-the-desk,
the ‘messy’ bibles for on-the-floor-with-kids
or on-the-table-with-oatmeal),

the right stroller,

(single or double,
lightweight or sturdy,
warm w/ windshield or light volo),

the perfect bag to hold the
day’s necessities

(am i hooking it on a stroller
or do i have to carry it on my back?)

and
my
lip
gloss.

am i that shallow?
yes.

o, diorkiss, how do i love thee?
philosophy melon daquiri, i pledge my undying affection.

this is one of the
main reasons
spring brings me
such great delight.

my favorite glosses come out
of hiding and regain prime real estate
in my wallet,
in my pocket,
in my stroller hood,
in my heart.

in ‘pink marshmallow’, of course.

ps – a natural job hazard
i routinely face is
combining my
abovementioned addiction
with
(like yesterday’s playground excursion)
sandboxes.

oye.

that’s a risk
i’ll face with a
brave (and o so shiny) smile.

pps – full disclosure:
bobbi brown
was my first love.
‘pink raspberry’, mi amor.

movie night

margaret had a great idea (as usual);
she said they’ve been netflix-ing
the brady bunch
and are completely
cracking up
watching them
for the first time with their kids.

sandy tuesday

they’re filming ‘new york i love you’
@ goodrich pharmacy on our street
w/ natalie portman

central park w/ adam + eli

cutie daniel

saying goodbye

mr. pitiful

if you liked yael naim, ‘old soul,‘
this matt costa video has a similar feel

a word about velcro

as cory went out the door
with nathan recently
on their way to the shoe store
to buy new ones for n,
i suggested that they get
something slip-on-y
for the ol’ quickness+ease factor.

when they came home
with (quite cool skateboarder-looking)
lace-em-ups,
cory let me know,

‘babe, when you wear a
size 7 mens,
the velcro & slip on ones are
Painfully
Dorky.
sorry.’

my size-7-wearing,
just-hit-five-foot-tall,
8 yr old.

i love you, njc;
and, don’t worry,
your dad is looking
out for you style-wise.

he’s always checking his height
against grammy;
almost there.

and happy flights today,
mom & dad;
it was perfect to have
you here this weekend.
weloveyou.

hum-a-long-a-ding-dong

here’s merritt’s version
of the ‘12 disciples’ song,
to the tune of ‘jesus loves me’:

“jesus called them one by one,
peter, andrew, james, and john
next came philip, thomas too
matthew and bartholomew
james the one they called ‘the less’ (?)
simon also thaddeus
12 disciples judas made
jesus was by him betrayed

yes, jesus called them
yes, jesus called them
yes, jesus called them
and they all followed him”

and in true, ‘if you give a moose a muffin’-fashion,
singing that one makes me
think of
morven’s fruit of the spirit song
with that uber-catchy tune
[where can i find the tune online, m?]:

“the fruit of the spirit is
love, joy, peace

patience, kindness, goodness

gentleness, faithfulness, self-control;
against such there is no law”

which will lead you to
start singing all of the
music machine and psalty songs
you can possibly remember.

happy humming +
kindly remind me of your
other childhood favorites.

monday is the new friday

you know,
pork is the new chicken +
brown is the new black

well, a monday night datenight
makes the rest of the week
just icing on the cake.

we saw the bank job,
which, as an elder’s wife +
MoralChristian, i surely
can’t recommend publicly
(i had to cover c’s eyes,
no kidding)
but i’m a sucker for jason statham
(who can forget lockstockandtwosmokingbarrels?)
and they keep the bass line running
thru the entire show,
for that fast, sexy feel
(think: ocean’s eleven).

those accents are hard to resist, as well.

and who doesn’t love a good bank heist,
and watching them break about
six other commandments, to boot.

going into it we were guessing it was
going to be like:
sexy beast + lock stock + the inside man,
all rolled into one
and we weren’t too far off.

it’s based on a true story
which ups the interestingbit in my book.
and the way it played out was
suspenseful and playful enough.

i just love that we can decide
at 6:58pm to see a 7:15pm movie,
change our clothes,
walk to the theatre,
and be in our seats even before
the previews begin.

so, earlier, mom and i walked down to
lee’s art shop today for a little fix
and
HowDidIMissThis?!
the fourth floor?
hello?

the sign said ‘children + party supplies’
and i looked at mom with this
saucereyed puzzledlook like,
really?
have i been in here a million times
and never noticed the 4th floor?!

it was more fun that
i can express here on the page.

well-organized,
they’ve obviously got a great buyer,
good design, creative, eclectic,
stroller/elevator access,
and a children’s bathroom
right there on the floor,
am i dreaming?

it could only have been better if
there was a petting zoo &
complimentary x-factor gatorade
while you shop.

princess c & princess j

how firm a foundation has been
running thru my head all day;
certainly a plus.

somehow i got the 12 disciples song*
out of my head after family devotions
and managed to re-load with that
beautiful hymn,
a special hymn that mrs. fliermans
took the time to write out the lyrics
for me during last year’s
um, pancreaticdebacle,
and which continue to hang
inside my cupboard door.
twice today the lyrics have
given me chills & brought tears to
the corners of my eyes,
esp. the last part:

“the soul that on Jesus
has leaned for repose,
i will not, I will not
desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell
should endeavor to shake,
i’ll never, no never,
no never forsake.”

sometimes my ‘foes’ are as
deceptively simple as
complacency,
greed,
selfishness
and
ugliest of all,
being completely blind to that
pesky log in my own eye
while ohsoclearly seeing
the splinter in yours.

so thanks be to God
that he will not ‘forsake
me’ to them
but strengthens me to
continue the struggle
against sin.

*i cannot resist inserting this link.
they have the 12 disciples song
on cyberhymnal,
you know, the adorable website
that plays that kooky organsynthesizer music
for any song you want to hear?

you should know that,
in my opinion,
the ‘12 disciples’
song is best accompanied by a
slightly-out-of-tune church piano
and played by a hearty, well-meaning pianist,
with great zeal and
not necessarily strict adherence
to the sheet music.

add 40+ eager children’s voices and
voila!
music fit for heaven.

no, seriously.

ps – there really isn’t anything that’s
even a close second to receiving a
handwritten note in the mail,
agree?

paula kaye’s most beautiful
note arrived today;
the dreamy penmanship and
the reminder of such a godly,
joyful woman
was quite the touch of
sunshine in my day.
thank you

pps – note to self:
when you write late at night,
you tend to ramble;
watch out for that.

easter hangover

a day as big & long & wonderful
as yesterday
deserves a day of
down time today, right?
don’t we all wish.

7am in central park
31 degrees
easter sunrise service

christine gives a testimony
of God’s grace & mercy in her life

<

back at the ranch
for pancakes, scripture &
easter baskets

putting on caroline’s new
‘big sister’ locket

cantaloupe easter bandits

3pm easter dinner

can you smell it?

charis’ sinful potatoes,
melissa’s corn casserole,
emily’s deviled eggs with her aunt’s pickles,
julia’s cupcakes,
mom’s ham;

wait, i’ll stop,
your tummy will rumble +
your officemates will look
@ you funny.

with julia, greg, faith,
brett, mary,
scott, emily, kevin,
ryan, paula, baby lucy,
charis, ryan,
mom, dad,
cade, melissa, and
the six of us

shhh, lucy’s sleeping

our walk-to-church posse was
19 strong last night.
you know i love that.

post-church, betsy is cracking up at mr. greg;
time for a little unwinding at the
end of a fabulous day

i wish this photo had audio;
you know these girls were
squealing the happiest squeal as
cory carted them off to bed
at the end of a memorable easter.

ps – tim’s book hit #6 on the
nytimes best seller list +
his other talks are on youtube;
tim @ northwestern
tim @ mit
i wonder if someone is going to post
the berkeley, stanford, etc. talks?

polaropposite, in a good way

this easter is
markedly different
from last easter

let’s just say
that there were
no easter baskets
last year
and that we had to
take the kids to
‘daddy’s bedroom’
(aka. his hospital room)
for them to
kiss him.

we are very thankful
for our supersweet,
(if quitesassy)
ohsohealthy
cory.

ps – he’s going to make out
like a bandit
from the easterbunny
tomorrow morning
to sort of make up
for last year’s
painful (if medicated)
easter in the hospital.

pps – i remember those
beautiful flowers jerry & julie
brought to c’s room
on easter sunday last year.

i can almost still smell them.

and the parade of friends
who stopped by his room on that
particular day,
scrubbed clean and
in their easter best;
good medicine, indeed.

ppps – girls:
okay, cory was no help to me
last night as i was getting ready.

i couldn’t figure out if i
could wear this
necklace w/ this sweater.
so cory and i went
back and forth.
i wore it.

q. skip it next time?

wait, here it is:

can you see how the sweatercollar
kind of sticks up pointy like?
weird. or cool.
i can’t tell.

4K

that’s right,
our amazing children’s ministry staff*
hid 4,000 eggs
for the first annual
redeemer
easter egg hunt
in central park
today

rockandroll





the good (and brave) doctor brent bounds
[aka. mr. brent, our family ministry director]
gave a us a good pre-hunt word:

he reminded us of the times when
we want something to be ‘full’,
like the easter eggs we were about to hunt,
or the christmas packages we love to open.

but he pointed out that the reason
we’re excited this weekend
is because something is
‘empty’.

kids, what’s empty?
the tomb.

he is risen, indeed.

sloan & patricia
[we're excited for baby ireland to make
his/her debut any minute now]

they had games + facepainting +
the most organized crew of
cheerfulenergetic volunteers

nathan’s initial strategy to win the
don’t-get-your-balloon-popped game=
hide behind the tree
and go undetected by opponents
(zoe found him
but he managed to outrun her,
this time).

see the eggs in the background?
they roped off (w/ orange tape)
3 fields of eggs:
one for ages 0-3 yrs,
one for ages 4-6 yrs and
one for 7+ yrs (those suckers were seriously hidden)

in the two older age brackets,
they had one egg in each division
that had a ‘golden ticket’ in it.
$25 toysRus gift cards, baby.

who found those??

when you run out of room in your bucket,
use your head hat

does anyone have a guess how
many people were there?
what a crowd.

cory helps caroline while daddy helps henry

the simmons’ crew

abe & jordyn, lydia & ezra

enjoying the candy-high

easter bunnies from ryan & paula;
caroline marks her territory

i mean, seriously,
papa can’t catch a minute to himself

*send your
notes of thanks to
brent (bounds),
tracy (thornton),
carolyn (leutweiler)
+ their crew to:
c/o RPC
1359 broadway, no. 400
nyc 10018

ps – rockchalkjayhawkGO,KU
kansas is representing this weekend.
k state took it to the floor last night
and ku didn’t even break a sweat tonight.
seriously.

a very good friday

a good friday
saunter across
the bklyn bridge
with grammy & papa

sorry, dad;
daddy carried b all that way
and she thanks him by
hanging baby bucky in
his eyes.

lunch @ city hall and
then we hopped the train home,
a gorgeous morning.

now, mom, dad & nathan
have gone to the 5:30pm
good friday service
and then once they relieve us,
cory and i will hit the 7pm service
and hopefully catch some
dessert-action with friends
after.

tim@google

working lunch

+

today was the girls’ first time to
play sorry
and
first time to try pb & banana;
a grand lunch, indeed.

a quick laugh

i like how the new yorker
is poking fun at both
secular and sacred
this particular week

(and boy, i need a quick laugh;
do you ever have those weeks
that feel like a month long?)

wait, while i’m at it,
i have to show you this;
when she spritzes her mouth…

[expletive alert:
be prepared to make a
mental bleep
when he starts talking
about her breath]

the old man is snoring

hope you wore your wellies today

the girls like watching the crane +
i’m kinda digging the big colorblock
scaffolding cover/building branding
they put up yesterday at 72nd/bway.

old-timey

henry heard that in the ‘old times’
they used to write with ‘feathers’
so we had to try it out.

mini-pitas =
our favorite thing since,
well, regularsizedpitas;
we love those little guys.

(above, with spinach, ham + cheese)

with alyssa & meghan;
congrats on your engagement, a.
. 2 august 2008 .
a lovely day to get married

’tis the season

wedding season,
that is.

the 2nd busiest season
for citywrites.
(christmas is still the
bigkahuna for me
volume-wise)

i’m grateful for how
thoughtful & organized
my brides are.

and i get to see the fedex attendant
on a regular basis as they
drop off package after package
of blank envelopes +
excel spreadsheets
from uber-organized brides
across the country.

and we’re full for the season.

this is the first time i’ve
filled up by mid-march;
since i take august off
(colorado, baby!)
i have to fit them all into
february thru july.

(i take 2 wks to turn around
an order for 100-200 invitations)

let the games begin.

ps – this one is new to me:
their escort cards are
rocks.

with the guests’ names written on
the rocks
and then the rocks are laid in
a bed of grass on a table.

so they’re shipping the rocks
from california,
i will write on them
and then ship them back.

i can hear the door buzzer now,
‘box of rocks for apartment one‘
cool.

gotham@night

photo: paul barcelonas

sister mary’s had enough

when mary boleyn
(the luminous scarlett johansson)
takes baby elizabeth in her arms
and marched out of the castle,
out of that life for good,
i think that was
my favorite scene in
the other boleyn girl;
the crowd parts to let
them thru and
there was a sense of relief
that she was going to
make things right.

clever camera angles
and funky technicolor-y lighting
they chose in several places,
thumbs up:
the darkness of the castle,
the spooky dusk/sky shots of the facade,
and how they juxtaposed those with
mary’s yellow-y light,
her goodness of heart.

poor george/jim sturgess;
what an awful mess
in the end.

and what up with the
clunky ‘B’ necklace natalie p
was forced to wear throughout*?
the most overt of
merchandising schemes?

and i don’t care what they say,
i liked eric bana.

however, his kingly coat-thing
was so massive
that at one point,
i thought he was going to fall
off his horse trying to ride in it;
how much did that
poofysleeved thing weigh?!

several scenes of this movie
were reminiscent
(not in a good way) of
hilary and jackie,
which i detested.
detested.
by far the most difficult movie
i’ve ever watched
(you know exactly
what scene i’m talking about).

i remember seeing h&j
at the 63rd street cinemas
right after it came out.
i had to run home on the train
and wake cory up and
tell him the darkness of it all
and then i could sleep peacefully.

but i’m not sure he slept
after that.

sorry.
and thanks, babe.

and thanks, as well, for letting me
slip out tonight for a
quiet evening of,
well,
adultery,
presumed incest +
family disasters.

*maybe the joke’s on them.
i knew i’d seen that necklace
somewhere else recently.
betty suarez, of course.
did the producers know that when
they made anne boleyn
wear it day and night?

palm sunday

the mothering sunday?
i do like the sound of
presents + flowers;
maybe i’ll circulate
‘the leaflet’ myself.

henry & caroline’s palm branches

h’s benediction

nathan, daniel, rae, leah & abby
reading scripture at church

ps – cory’s tip o’ the night:
rite aid has kellogg’s cereal
5 boxes for $10

blind date

baby holmberg

merritt + jim,
sitting in a tree…

and yesterday we
had the
baby
shower

what fun to celebrate
with all of those friends
and what a special treat that
stacy came,
all the way from philly.

it’s been such a treat to
know merritt,
then to meet jim,
then the tennessee wedding
and now a new york baby.

i’ll post an update
somewhere around may 4th…

(i sent my camera with
cory to cub scouts,
so i used ashley/jim’s
cameras and will post
a photo soon;
it was a serious Full House
in the very best way.

three things i loved:
rachel brought scones she flew in
from san francisco
and
the cupcakes had pictures of
a baby with merritt’s head
photoshopped on it
and
caroline, in her fancypartydress
and with a sweet smile,
took each one of the
20 balloons
out into the back yard,
one at a time,
and released them)

ps – carrie, you are a planningmachine.
thank you for all of your hard work + help.

fridaynightmadness

that’s right.
last night,
i was abandoned.

left alone &
defenseless
against the
madness.

the lowdown:
in the wee hours of the morning,
i awakened to something
pushing on my face,
and kicking against my legs,
and realized i had
crouched in an ‘L’
in the bottom of
my very own bed
as a sleepyreaction
to this:

evidently there was a
slow progression in the
nighttime hours
and
cory chose to
run
(without even a
whisper of warning
to moi)
rather than to
resist.

(scaredy cat, scaredy cat)

caroline on the floor,
henry on cory’s side
and betsy overtaking my side.

nathan & cory were
cozysnoozing on the
top and bottom bunks respectively,
feigning ignorance of
my sleepy plight.

thanks for nothing, babe;
i’d sleep with one eye open tonight
if i were you.

pinewood derby

a strong showing today.
nathan did well in his
cub scout heat &
henry came in 1st in the
bears + siblings division
(as a ’sibling’).

go, pack 664

n – 4th from the bottom
h – 6th from the bottom

green trash talk
in a shop window

‘ididit!itotallydidit!’

um, tilt your head to the left?
(will i never learn?)

we’re learning to curtsey

puzzled

this is dedicated to the one i love

oh, brother

overheard:

henry, teasingly channeling bugs bunny:
you’re a disgwace to the wegiment

betsy:
no, i’m not! no, i’m not!
mommmmmyyyy!

a bright sunshiny day

the boys had early dismissal
today at 11:30am and
did you see how gorgeous
it was outside?

we stayed and played for
just shy of an hour and
i’ve never seen the
schoolyard happier.

(i had to keep repeating,
‘pleasekeepyourcoaton’
‘coatson!’
‘putyourcoatbackon,love’)

early dismissal + stunning sunny weather =
a hundred (more?)
screamingrunninghappy children

and can i tell you what we
had for dinner tonight?

well, the kids had
mini-pitas cut in half
and filled with either
tuna fish
or
thin ham+cheese+red/yellow pepper

but (several hours later)
the grownups (justin, cory & i)
had talapia,
steamed yellow squash+
red pepper+spinach,
and couscous with parmesan
by candlelight.

dodgytastinglondonmeatpie,
it was good.

oh, and a FriendWhoLovesUs
dropped off pinkberry
(surprise!)
as a tasty treat and we
shared that for dessert.
fresh blueberries,
bananas + strawberries
on top.

mmmmmm.
wish you were here.

justin’s improving.
(ouch, that should rile him up)

tips

rachel & jennifer k taught
me two helpful ‘girl’
tips this week:

rach – (1 girl, 2 boys)
that i need to turn
the girls’ shirts with glitter/
rhinestones on them
inside out
when washing them.
(this just never came up
when i only had boys)

jen – (3 girls)
her ballet bag.
she keeps all of the tutus,
leotards & tights in
one bag so it’s all right there
when you need it.
she even has a little ziploc
with hair bands &
bobby pins for a quick
pre-ballet ponytail.

genius, girls, genius.

who loves ya?
rachel had this piping hot
delicious coffee ready
and had just pulled these
blueberry muffins out of
the oven when the girls
and i came over this morning.
talk about refreshing.

report card

yesterday and today were
parent-teacher conferences
here in the city,
one of the few times that
i’m often startled into reality,
“hey, i’m the parent!”

i am of the opinion
that basically whatever
you see in kindergarten

is pretty much what you’re
going to see when you’re,
oh, 33.

i still talk when i should be working
and
cory still needs to improve his handwriting.

maybe this world isn’t
as surprising and
ever-changing
as it
sometimes seems.

[i dare you to dig out
your k, 1, 2, report cards
and compare them
to your current journals
or
whatever it is your
spouse keeps
gently reminding you of.

similarities?
i bet so. ]

tuesday

celebrating lucy’s
one month birthday
with goodies from
grandaisy bakery

the birthday girl sweetly slept
thru the entire happy affair;
you’re doing a great job, sweetpea lja.

ps – have you ever seen a
website start a party
all by itself?
hema online
(don’t do anything,
just wait)

joyful noise

the icebreaker question in
mom’s group today
(btw, i think there were
over 25 of us there today?!
rock on)
was to tell something that you
love about your husband.

and i love cory’s joyful noise.
his singing.
or ’singing’, as it were.

he raises an eager,
if not necessarily melodic,
voice
in praise to the Lord
and it melts me and
makes me so happy and
satisfied when i hear him
worship.
and last night was an
endearing example
of it.

when he put the boys to bed,
he took the guitar in and
sat on the side of the
bunkbed and
played and sang
praise songs.

song after song.

and i was sitting out here
working and
my heart was soaring.

oh, the Lord is kind to us
to call us His own and
to let us,
fallible, fallen people,
worship Him,
the infinite, sovereign Creator.

poorlittlebunny

‘we’ve got a man on
council avenue with
a hurty knee’

spring fever

the stage:
the tall slide @ classic playground,
74th right on the hudson river

the cast:
adam & eli,
houston, hank & cash,
nathan, henry,
caroline & betsy

the spoiler:
don’t worry, no injuries.

ps – put it on mute
so you don’t have
to listen to me
yabber on.
oye, i always forget
it has audio.

cleaning + chatting

i love that
paula, ryan,
brit & i
share a washer + dryer.

the prospect of
an impromptu social visit
while completing laundry duty
is too much for my
heart to take.

and there’s something about
the camaraderie in the
mundane-ness of laundering
that makes it not
feel overwhelming.

the downstairs laundry is
this cool little room tucked
under our kitchen and
next to the boiler
and the clearance is
about 6′5″ so our
heads bump on the
light fixture.
(read: energysaving
coily-bulb hanging down
which makes
for a nice tangle
when it meets my curls.
owwwww.)

everytime my dad comes,
he makes some fantastic
improvement to the
functionality or
attractiveness of said laundry room
which massively improves
my quality of life.
thanks, dad.
(m + d are coming next week.
which gives me huge smiles for
many reasons)

favorite new yorker covers
that we laminated
adorn the funky wall
(and they have address labels
from the 4 different nyc
apts we’ve lived in.
a walk down memory lane)

and brittany found these cool
heavy magnet clothespin clips
which hold one of two signs
on the washer:

‘now they show you how detergents take
out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there.
i think if you’ve got a t-shirt with
bloodstain all over it,
maybe laundry isn’t your biggest problem.
maybe you should get rid of the body
before you do the wash.’
jerry seinfeld

‘we should all do what,
in the long run,
gives us joy,
even if it is only
picking grapes
or
sorting the laundry.’
-e.b. white

little miss eleanor

. eleanor elizabeth hullinger .

just look at her!
that’s a hullinger-baby face,
for certain, sweetangel.

adelle, clara & baby eleanor

you know my big strong
handsome husband
completely choked up at
seeing these
photos.

ryan + amanda were the
first friends we told
when we were pregnant
with nathan.

and i will never forget the
night we were having dinner
at their apt on 100th st
and at a certain point in
the conversation,
ryan quietly slid his chair over
beside amanda’s,
put his arm around her shoulders,
there was the most
romantic pause as they
looked at eachother,
looked at us,
smiled and
(i SO should have seen it
coming at this point)
told us they were
pregnant.
(hello, clara ellen)

OHMY! oh my.
and now the Lord has provided
precious clara
and
dear adelle
and
baby eleanor.

with seven children between us,
we’ve come a long way together, baby.

the Lord is generous, indeed,
and worthy of our praise.

ps – on a much, much
lesser note,
clara is the reason
citywrites exists.

my ever-encouraging friends
r + a knew that i had toyed
with the dream
of doing something with
my handwriting,
so,
of course,
they
ordered
birth announcements
and thank you cards.

sight unseen,
product not-yet-developed.
and, voila, here we are.

thanks, friends,
for seeing what didn’t exist.